Fence and Trees (123/365)

TIME: 8:04 PM
PLACE: Around town
SUBJECT: Sunset

It was still light out after my meeting was over…I love this time of year.

Stuck (012/365)

TIME: 4:45 PM
PLACE: Yard
SUBJECT: Leaf in fence

Good News: I only had a 1/2 day of work today , a great way to kick off the three day weekend - Yay!

Bad News: It’s going to be very cold the next few days, highs in the 20’s, lows in the single digits; maybe some snow Sunday night into Monday -  Boo!

Good News: I’m not this leaf, which is stuck in the fence in the freezing air - Yay!

New Harmony (177/365)

TIME:  10:45 AM
PLACE:  New Harmony, Indiana
SUBJECT:  Atheneum/Visitors Center

We took a day trip to New Harmony, Indiana today.  I expected the children to be completely bored.  Surprisingly, only one was cranky – DramaQueen (go figure). 

TIME:  10:56 AM
PLACE:  Inside the Lenz House (circa 1819-1822)
SUBJECT:  Door and stairway

We took the walking tour and were able to enter into several buildings that are only open to visitors with a guide.


TIME:  12:47 PM
PLACE:  Outside the Antheneum
SUBJECT:  Split rail fence posts

It took about two hours.  StellaDella asked some questions that impressed the tour guide (That’s my girl!)  Afterwards, MonkeyBoy even stated that it was “More interesting than I expected”

TIME:  8:40 AM
PLACE:  State Route 66
SUBJECT:  The now closed New Harmony Toll Bridge

Remember this bridge?  I drove across it in November of 2010.  It closed on May 21, 2012 due to structural deficiencies.  It’s still a cool looking bridge.

First Snow of Winter (363/366)

TIME:  10:11 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT: Tree

There was a misty rain as I left work at 4pm today.  By the time I arrived home at 4:30 it was turning to snow.


TIME:  10:52 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Basketball hoop

It continued all evening.  When we left for MonkeyBoy’s indoor soccer game at 8:15 there was about an inch accumulation of the wet stuff and still more coming down.


TIME:  10:56
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Chain link fence

After we arrived back home, I went outside with the camera and attempted to take some photos.  I took a number of them (the top photo is from that round), came inside, reviewed them and went back out with the tripod to get longer exposures and less shake.  I didn’t stay out too long…I really don’t like the cold. 

Ballpark Issues (166/366)

"Most ball games are lost, not won."

Casey Stengel (American, Major League Baseball outfielder and manager, 1890-1975)

TIME:  7:47 PM
PLACE:  Little League Fields
SUBJECT: Chain link fence

The boys probably felt a lot like this fence after tonight’s game.  They lost 28 to 8.  Ouch.

Fences Between the Fields (150/366)

“Hit the ball over the fence and you can take your time going around the bases.”

John W. “Jack” Raper (American, journalist, 1870-1950)

TIME:  8:10 PM
PLACE:  Away ball diamonds
SUBJECT:  Field easement

MB's team had to forfeit their game this evening because we didn’t have enough players.  The other team lent us a man and the two teams played an unofficial game anyway.  I sat here, on the third baseline, which also happened to be the first baseline for the adjoining field.  I was constantly having to keep a “heads-up” with the foul balls from both sides.

Barbed Wire & Crescent Moon (145/366)

“A woman's dress should be like a barbed-wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.”

Sophia Loren (Italian film Actress, b.1934)

TIME:  8:33 PM
PLACE:  Ball fields
SUBJECT:  Barbed wire & moon

MB had a game this evening.  They ended up in a tie – they can’t start another inning after 8:15 pm – which was better than a loss I suppose.  Note to self:  Next time, don’t forget the bug spray…the mosquitos are vicious this year.

Go Speed Racer, Go! (139/366)

“Shake and bake!”

Ricky Bobby, Cal Naughton, Jr., Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Sony Pictures, 2006.

TIME:  7:29-8:37 PM
PLACE:  Belle Clair Speedway
SUBJECT:  At the stock-car races

I volunteered to help at the “Battle at Belle-Vegas” that my work sponsored at the Speedway this evening.  We signed people up for a raffle (Cardinal baseball tickets) from 5-7pm then we were able to stay and watch the races.  I was given extra tickets, so DQ, SD and several of my cousins joined me.   We were able to sit in the enclosed VIP viewing tower.  The speedway gave us t-shirts and also served us chicken, beef and shrimp kabobs, baked potatoes and water – it was all good!

 
They had late models, midgets plus 600cc micro sprints.


It was still loud inside the tower! 

Of course only I would go to the races and come home with a picture of stacked milk cartons.

Chicken Wire & Red Zip Tie (101/366)

“And teII him to bring some chicken wire!”

The Lady is Willing, Columbia Pictures Corp, 1942.

TIME:  7:00 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  Garden fence

The HH and MB put up a fence around the garden Monday afternoon to keep the critters out.  The “critters” mainly being our dog, because I’m positive that any rabbits around here will be sure to find a way in.  Chicken wire, green posts and red zip ties were utilized in this endeavor.

09-11-11 (254/365)

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals.“

President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

TIME:  6:32 PM
PLACE:  Grade school
SUBJECT:  WE *heart* USA

There were all sorts of remembrances for today’s 9-11 anniversary.  This is how StellaDella’s grade school remembered.  (It’s odd to think that more than half of the current student body were not even glimmers in their parent’s eyes on that day.)  One thing I do remember about that day is how the nation came together as one.  There were no Democrats or Republications, no liberals or conservatives, no right, no left…we were all just Americans. 
As it should be.

Old Industry, Feeling Guilty & An Encounter With The Law (021/365)

“When we played softball, I'd steal second base, feel guilty and go back.”

Woody Allen (American Actor, Author, Screenwriter and Film Director, b.1935)

TIME:  10:29 PM
PLACE:  Our town
SUBJECT:  Old grain elevator

I decided to try to take some snowy night pictures.  Luckily for me, DQ was spending the night at a friends, HH was home, SD was ready to go to bed and poor MB was in his bed trying to make it through his turn with the stomach virus (I picked him up from school at 1:30pm – he decorated the school sidewalk on the way to the car.)  I borrowed HH’s window mount tripod, picked up a coffee at Quick Trip and off I went.  At first, I felt kind of paranoid, like someone was watching me and thinking that I was up to no good.  I was feeling guilty like I was doing something wrong, but I pressed on.  After a while, I started to feel kind of stealthy and a little bit more confident...until these photos:

This was at a Pre-K school playground in our school district.  I was taking the photos when a vehicle pulled along the passenger side of the Jeep and a bright light shone into my car.  It was the police.  The officer (younger than me too, *grrrr*) asked me if everything was ok and what I was doing.  I told him I was just trying to improve my photo skills by taking some night photos, was I doing anything wrong?  No, he said, but you are parked on the wrong side of the street.  *gulp*  Sorry officer, I was just trying to get closer for the shot and because my window mount was on the driver’s side…I’ll move along.  He had already run my plates apparently because he asked if I still lived on “XXXX St.” and then he asked me if I was trying to take a photo of the house.  House?  I said…ummm, no, no, no…see that ball playground thingy?  That’s what I’m trying to capture.  I asked him if he wanted to see what I had taken photos of this evening and he said yes.  I un-mounted my camera, exited my car and let him see my shots on the screen.  I guess that was satisfactory enough for him; he wished me a good evening and went on his way.  Gah!  My heart was racing!  These shots were going to be my last ones anyway, so I decided now would be a good time to call it a night myself.  I do wish I would have had more time to compose those shots better…I think they really could have been spectacular.  I know the officer was doing his job; he was polite and respectful and I have no complaint with him or the way he handled our encounter, but, ack! I wish that I didn’t feel so guilty about what I was doing.  And I guess I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought, darnnit.

“S” Is For Somber (007/365)

“To watch this crystal globe just sent from heaven to associate with me. While these clouds and this somber drizzling weather shut all in, we two draw nearer and know one another.”

Henry David Thoreau (American Essayist, Poet and Philosopher, 1817-1862)

TIME:  3:31 PM
PLACE:  Backyard
SUBJECT:  Fence ornament

”Somber” is a good word to describe the weather today – “Dreary” would be another, but I was unable to find something to photograph that resembled a “D” so I went with “S” and a side trip to the thesaurus – *ahem*.  Weather-wise, we were dealt grey skies, cold temperatures and snow flurries today.  I am done – so done! - with winter.  What I wouldn’t give to be sitting on a sunny beach with 85 degree temps, warm water and a cold alcoholic drink with an umbrella in it by my side…and oh heck, I guess I’d want my husband there too.

Leaf Pile (278/365)

 
“In autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink, and write it down.”

Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832-1898), British poet. Through the Looking-Glass. . ; pseud. of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson Oxford Book of Light Verse, The. W. H. Auden, ed. (1938) Oxford University Press.

TIME:  3:00 PM
PLACE:  Grade school
SUBJECT:  Leaves against the fence

About 3 or 4 days a week, I walk to the school with Oreo to meet StellaDella when she is dismissed – MonkeyBoy usually has patrols, band or basketball practice after school and cannot walk home with her.  We’ve been having some pretty, crisp autumn days the past week or so and it’s been nice to take the walk.  Oreo loves it, she gets to smell wonderful things on the way there, sometimes she even spots a squirrel or two and best of all, she receives all kinds of attention and love from the children once we arrive at the schoolyard.  Leaves are beginning to turn and fall off the trees and the wind has blown them up against the chain link fence in the playground.

Ghost Vines (115/365)

 
“Everything that ever walked or crawled on the face of the earth, swum the depths of the ocean or soared through the skies left its imprint here.”

Robert M. Fresco, and Jack Arnold. Dr. Matt Hastings (John Agar), Tarantula, Looking out at the desert. (1955).

TIME:  5:25 PM
PLACE:  High Street
SUBJECT:  Vine imprints on house

Ivy had been removed off the side of this brick building several years ago.  The impressions have remained.  It was raining when I took this photo through the front windshield of my car – if you ~click~ to make the picture larger, you can see a number of rain drops blurring parts of the photo.

A special shout out to Dad, who suggested this photo! 

Linked & Twisted (260/365)

 
“What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined ... to strengthen each other ... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.”

George Eliot (English Victorian Novelist. Pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans, 1819-1880)

TIME:  6:25 PM
PLACE:  Laderman Park
SUBJECT:  Chain link fence

I was very fortunate to be able to have lunch with my HH today (he had 1/2 day off).  We went to a sushi restaurant, and dined at the bar.  The lunch date was a pleasant substitution for the dinner date we were to have with friends tomorrow (Friday).  Due to some unforeseen circumstances, several of them had to cancel.  HH and I were going to go out to eat anyway, just the two of us, but this way we didn’t have to worry about getting a sitter as the kids were in school - a bonus!  Now, maybe tomorrow, HH can get out by himself and visit a good friend of his – HH has had a stressful week and deserves it.  The kids want to go see “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” at the movie theatre, so I’m thinking that is what I will be doing tomorrow evening.

Football and cheerleading practice has moved to a new location, one with a lighted field.  The other park did not have lights and they are definitely needed as it is getting darker earlier each day…fall must be coming!  This chain link fence surrounds the park.  Didn’t we have a lovely blue sky today?

Tomato Thief (199/365)

“It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”

Lewis Grizzard (American writer and humorist, known for his Southern demeanor and commentary on the American South, 1946-1994)

TIME:  5:17 PM
PLACE:  The backyard
SUBJECT:  Sciurus carolinensis

This would be why we may not have any tomatoes this year.  These pesky rodents are enjoying the fruits of our labors.  I saw one of these creatures sitting on the fence chomping away at a green tomato this morning, but alas, I did not have my camera with me at the time.  MonkeyBoy had his ball game at 1pm (they won 16-9, yea!).  After we returned home, I did not feel like cooking (no surprise there), so we ordered some pizza.  Being as I am too cheap to pay for both a delivery charge and a tip, I made the order a carry-out.  I did take my camera with me and was rewarded with this sight as I returned home with the pizza.

Guarding The Fence (197/365)

 
“One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.”

Albert Einstein (German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

TIME:  7:34 PM
PLACE:  Madison Ball Fields
SUBJECT:  Baseball fence guard

MonkeyBoy was finally able to play baseball tonight.  We had rainouts on Saturday, Sunday and last night.  We traveled to Madison, IL to play a team from our hometown.  *shakes head*  We ended up winning by a mere 2 runs.  Our infield had issues overthrowing the ball to each other, allowing more runs than they should.  But, they won, and now we have a game Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.  It’s supposed to be beautiful out – highs in the mid to low 70’s and sunny.  Great weather for a ballgame!

Peony Promise (098/365)

 
"...peonies, their favorite flower, are saluted by the Chinese, according to their form or color, by these delicious names, each an entire poem and an entire novel:  The Young Girl Who Offers Her Breasts, or: The Water That Sleeps Beneath the Moon, or: The Sunlight in the Forest, or: The First Desire of the Reclining Virgin, or: My Gown Is No Longer All White Because in Tearing It the Son of Heaven Left a Little Rosy Stain; or, even better, this one: I Possessed My Lover in the Garden."

Octave Mirbeau, Torture Garden, "The Garden," Chapter 5

TIME: 1:25 PM
PLACE:  Front yard flowerbed
SUBJECT: Peony shoots

These peonies were given to me by my mother from plants she grew in her backyard.  Mom's peony plants were given to her from her mother's plants.  Originally, the above plants were located by the back porch of our first home.  My mom planted the tuberous roots for me soon after DramaQueen was born in late October of 1997.  When we moved, eight years ago, I dug up the peonies and replanted them here.  I am so very glad I did.  I cannot wait for them to bloom so I can cut bouquets and fill the house with their fragrance.  That smell immediately transports me back to my childhood, when Mom would do the exact same thing each spring. 

Where the Moss Slowly Grows (066/365)

 
"And so another journey has come to an end
Another moment passed that will not, will not come again
Resting in the shade of oak, so it has always been
And its true that I'll miss you but I'll see, I'll see you again
I'll see you again

Embrace this joy, this pain
Don't miss this chance it will not come again
You mean more than you may ever know
Don't linger where the moss slowly grows

There are so many things I wish I could've said
They might not have changed your mind but sometimes we just need hope alleged
Above the mountain shadow, the sunset dimly glows
The oaks will look down on our heads forever and our dreams will be no more
We should not ever let them go

Embrace this joy, this pain
Don't miss this chance it will not come again
You mean more than you may ever know
Don't linger where the moss slowly grows

I remember those summers that stretched on without end
The future called so loudly and the oaks, the oaks were silent then
Silence forever, conversations in my head
Might not have changed your mind but if we'd spoken
Here's what I'd have said
Here's what I would've said:

Embrace this joy, this pain
Don't miss this chance it will not come again
You mean more than you may ever know
Don't linger where the moss slowly grows"

Tiger Army (American psycobilly, punk, alternative rock band, 1996-present), Music From Regions Beyond, Track 11, 2007

TIME: 4:09 PM
PLACE: Madison St.
SUBJECT: Weathered Fence

DramaQueen and I picked up my niece, Brandi to go shopping tonight.  This fence was on the side of the rode leading out of her subdivision.  The two girls indulged me while I took several pictures.  But I wasn't able to linger as long as I liked...they wanted to go shopping.